Inside new military race to dominate the metaverse as US and China prepare for cyber warfare

Sent by Lee Igel

The Sun, April 19th, 2022, Christopher Eberhart

A TECH race to build the most sophisticated and expansive metaverse could establish the next world power and change the future of war.

The metaverse is still in its infancy, but its limitless potential is seducing companies to invest billions of dollars into its development.

Most of the metaverse’s potential uses in the US have been tied to commercial and recreational civilian purposes.

But China is prepping for metaverse warfare that “affects the opponent’s thinking, cognition and action decision making,” according to a March 2022 report by an Air Force think tank.

Elmer Francisco, CEO of VetCoin Foundation, told The Sun that the metaverse the next evolutionary step in weaponry after drones. 

“Before, people used swords to fight. Nowadays, people use guns and other weapons. Then countries used drones. It’s similar except now in the metaverse, soldiers are using computers to engage in cyber warfare,” Francisco said.

“Soldiers won’t just need to know how to do hand-to-hand combat, but also how to code. Soldiers have to be able to manipulate the virtual domain.”

One military application, Francisco said, is creating real-life avatars or robots that can be controlled from a distance like one would use a virtual reality set. 

Except, it would be XR – extended reality – technology that “you would use to manipulate the real world with machines even though you’re not there physically,” he said. 

“In the military, there will be no soldiers who need to be amputated because it would be their robot that is blown up by explosives,” Francisco said.